While Hitchcock fans and movie buffs in general often argue as to which
is the best of the director's many films, few disagree that 'Rear
Window' is, at least, in the top three. A sleek, elegant, funny and
very suspenseful movie, it's also original, imaginative and perfectly
realized. This DVD is the best way so far for a home video buff to own
the film; it's likely to remain the best way for years to come. And the
disc is laden with fascinating extras.

The movie was restored a few years ago by Robert A. Harris and James C.
Katz, who appear on the included documentary; they explain why the
movie needed to be restored, and give examples of before-and-after
shots. The discussion is useful because to many, the differences
between the unrestored and the restored 'Rear Window' are not as great
as might be expected.

Even when it was new, 'Rear Window' was understated, even muted, in
terms of color and design -- and it still is. Instead of vivid
Technicolor hues, art directors J. McMillan Johnson and Hal Pereira,
the great cinematographer Robert Burks and Hitchcock used a more
realistic palette that emphasizes the very ordinariness of the setting.

For those who haven't seen it, 'Rear Window' is about Life magazine
photographer L.B. "Jeff" Jefferies (James Stewart) sweating out a hot
summer trapped in his small New York apartment by a broken leg that's
almost healed. He spends his time watching his courtyard neighbors out
the rear window of his apartment, even photographing their activities.
He's always been a man of action, and he has to do something.

He's visited regularly by day-care nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter), a
witty, down-to-earth philosopher type (no one in movie history was
better at these roles than Ritter) who amuses Jeff with her directness,
honesty and sharp tongue. He's also frequently visited by Lisa Fremont
(Grace Kelly), a model and fashion writer from a very upper-crust
background. There's no doubt that Jeff is in love with Lisa, but he
just can't see her traipsing around the world on the photographic
assignments to out of the way places that he loves so much, which
frustrates Lisa.

The screenplay by John Michael Hayes, one of Hitchcock's best
collaborators, gradually shifts from basically a romantic comedy to a
suspense thriller when Jeff begins to suspect that henpecked neighbor
across the way, salesman Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), has murdered his
wife, scattered her cut-up body about the city, and is about to skip
town with a girlfriend.

Everyone, including Stella, Lisa and Jeff's war buddy Tom Doyle
(Wendell Corey), now a cop, finds this highly unlikely. But we know
Jeff's right. This is one of the very few weaknesses in this
beautifully-constructed film: we never for an instant doubt that Jeff
is right about what Thorwald has done.

'Rear Window' is one of Hitchcock's tiny group of "stunt" movies:
virtually every shot is either within Jeff's apartment or out the
window from the perspective of Jeff's apartment. Hitchcock considered
'Rear Window,' like 'Psycho,' an exercise in "pure cinema," but it's
also obvious that he and Hayes worked very hard in adapting Cornell
Woolrich's short story to the screen. Though on some levels, it may
seem slight -- the romance is not as passionate as in 'Notorious' or
'Vertigo,' for example, and the suspense is confined primarily to the
last third -- but it's one of Hitchcock's most creative movies.

What we see, including the murder, reflects what's going on in
Stewart's apartment. He's (temporarily) an invalid, frustrating the
woman who loves him; Thorwald's wife is an invalid, and frustrates him.
With the possible exception of the dear little busybody of a sculptress
(Jesslyn Fax), every one of those other windows relates in some way to
love, its presence, its lack, its distortion, though there's no
question that the movie comes down hard in favor of love, despite Robin
Wood's morose pronouncements in the documentary.

Hitchcock was one of those smoothly professional artists whose skills
were so finely honed that almost everything looks simple; he's to
directing what Astaire was to dancing, or Sinatra to singing. He never
seems to work at anything, and yet his movies are so intricately
designed, so tightly put together that they can be -- and have been --
endlessly discussed and analyzed. But of course, that's not what made
Hitchcock such an enormously popular director. He liked to say that
while other directors' films might be slices of life, his were slices
of cake -- confections. Which really means that they were a hell of a
lot of fun to watch.

This disc includes two trailers, the original and the 1962 reissue
(narrated by Stewart), production notes, and biographies. Of particular
interest is an interview with screenwriter John Michael Hayes, who
offers insights into Hitchcock's working methods. (For example, he
insisted that the writer spend considerable time with Grace Kelly --
gee, what an onerous task -- to capture her personality in the script.)
The documentary by Laurent Bouzereau isn't as good as those he did for
the earlier Hitchcock DVDs from Universal; it covers the ground, but
seems skimpier. It's a good job, but not a remarkable one, as the
others were.

The sound in the film is masterful, as always with Hitchcock. Here, he
uses relatively little original music (what there is, is by Franz
Waxman), and instead relies upon source music, including the popular
"That's Amore." The development of the film is paralleled by the
development of the song being worked on by the neighboring songwriter;
the movie ends with the song finished. The track on the DVD is, of
course, mono, since the film wasn't shot in stereo.

Hitchcock is probably the best movie director ever, at least in regard
to the kinds of movies he made. He was a thoroughly commercial
filmmaker, drawn to stories both because he liked them for personal
reasons, and because he thought the audience would like them, too. He
rarely took on material that in itself was serious or timely; he made
romantic thrillers, comedies and suspense films -- but he consistently
made them better than anyone else ever has. This doesn't necessarily
mean that he made the very best examples of each of those genres, but
rather that no one else made so many of them, so well.

And 'Rear Window' is one of Hitchcock's best movies, a timeless,
entertaining thriller with vivid characterizations, sharp lines and an
unusual situation. It's wonderful to have it back again, particularly
in the form of this attractive DVD, one of many Universal has released
in their "Alfred Hitchcock collection."